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‘A killer cop lives here’: Brooklyn arrests raise questions about limits of free speech
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 2:41 p.m. ET
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Ben Feuerherd / Gothamist
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 2:41 p.m. ET
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The fliers said “A killer cop lives here.”
Brooklyn prosecutors say two protesters posted the fliers in front of the Brooklyn apartment building of an NYPD officer and around his street and at a nearby subway station.
The fliers accuse the officer of the 2021 killing of Eudes Pierre in Crown Heights. According to city and state investigations, two police officers shot and killed Pierre after he charged at one of them with a knife. The state attorney general’s office found that criminal charges should not be brought against the officers involved. A police oversight agency found the officers’ actions to be within NYPD guidelines.
The protesters, Jamie Kowalski and Daniel Koh, saw their posting of the fliers as their First Amendment right. But early in the morning on Oct. 20, they say NYPD warrant officers showed up to their homes and arrested them on stalking and harassment charges.
“We see these as like ridiculous trumped up charges, which is basically their playbook for protesters, right?” Kowalski said in a recent interview.
The criminal case against the two is a test of the right to protest police officers. While the NYPD and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office say there’s evidence they committed the crimes, two First Amendment scholars and an attorney who reviewed the case said the allegations likely do not meet the legal threshold for stalking and harassment.
The police union that represents the officer fully backs the prosecution, they told Gothamist in a statement.
“We’re glad that these unhinged individuals were arrested, and we will follow this case to make sure that they face consequences for their vile threats and harassment,” Patrick Hendry, the president of Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement.
Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment expert and professor emeritus at UCLA School of Law, reviewed the charges, the fliers and statements from the NYPD and said he does not think the two should be charged with those crimes.
“I think that they are not guilty of violating either of the statutes,” he told Gothamist.
NYPD spokesperson Bradley Weekes said officers worked with Brooklyn prosecutors to determine what crimes had occurred. They were basing charges on three incidents, he said.
The first incident, Weekes said, happened in August when activists knocked on the officer’s door, and asked a family member if he lived there. They then placed a poster that said, “wanted killer cop” on a lamppost across the street, Weekes said.
In the other incidents, the officer, Conrado Abreu-Gerez, later moved to another apartment in Brooklyn, where police and prosecutors say Kowalski and Koh twice posted fliers on the glass entrance of his apartment building, as well as at a nearby subway entrance and on a nearby lamppost. Those fliers read “wanted for murder” and “A killer cop lives here,” Weekes said.
Monthly protests
Kowalski and Koh are both members of an activist group called the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. They describe it as an organization that speaks out against police brutality, and their website and social media feeds call for “community control” of the police department.
One of the group’s campaigns has been a monthly demonstration in front of the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights to call for the arrest of the officers who shot Pierre on Eastern Parkway in 2021.
As part of the protests, the activists have posted fliers that feature Abreu-Gerez’s photo and badge number in the Crown Heights neighborhood around the precinct, as well as in the Brooklyn neighborhood where the officer lives, Koh and Kowalski said.
The pair say they are focused on Abreu-Gerez because the other officer accused of shooting Pierre has since retired. Citing their open case, Kowalski declined to say exactly where they posted fliers in his neighborhood, but both acknowledged they did post fliers there.
“ We've been putting up fliers to let the community know … that there is a killer cop who lives and works among them,” Koh said.
After their arraignments, the two were released under supervision and are due back in court in December. The top charge against them is a class B misdemeanor that is punishable by up to three months in jail, according to New York court records.
'Nasty things'
Volokh, the First Amendment scholar, said if the pair had posted fliers in areas where that is not allowed, they could be charged with a crime like trespassing. But even then, police and prosecutors would need to show that they hold everyone equally accountable for posting unauthorized fliers — not just people who post fliers complaining about police officers.
“If not, and it only happened because the fliers criticized a police officer … that would show selective prosecution based on the content of speech,” Volokh said.
He added that even though prosecutors say some of the fliers included the word “wanted” it would likely not rise to the level of criminal conduct.
David Hudson, another prominent First Amendment scholar and fellow at the Freedom Forum, reviewed the NYPD’s explanation of the charges and said posting such fliers is likely protected speech.
“The most fundamental of all First Amendment free speech principles is criticism of government officials,” he said. “ I'd be arguing First Amendment all day long on this one.”
Criminal defense attorney Ron Kuby agreed.
“In the United States of America, people are free to write and say nasty, nasty things about other people without it rising to the level of criminal conduct,” Kuby said. “That's all protected by the First Amendment.”
But the union that represents Abreu-Gerez views the posters as threatening and called on politicians to strengthen laws that protect officers from such actions.
“Every time activists have tried to weaken privacy and due process protections for police officers, they claim their goal is simply ‘transparency,’ not to stalk and threaten police officers and our families,” Hendry, the PBA president, added in the statement.
“Obviously, that’s a lie. Our elected leaders need to act now to protect police officers and their families, as they have already done for judges. The PBA will continue to press for legislation to stop the constant abuse of our members.”
Tagged
brooklyn
first amendment
nypd
public safety
Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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